A U.S. special forces soldier takes cover as two helicopters carrying supplies come in for a landing in Afghanistan in 2009. Recent remarks from the White House suggest that the CIA and special operations forces, which were the first to arrive in Afghanistan in 2001, will be hunting al- Qaeda and working with Afghan forces long after most regular U.S. troops have gone home.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — They were the first Americans into Afghanistan after the 2001 terrorist attacks and will probably be the last U.S. forces to leave.

As most American troops prepare to withdraw in 2014, the CIA and military special operations forces to be left behind are girding for the next great pivot of the campaign, one that could stretch their war up to another decade.

The war’s 10th anniversary Friday recalled the start of a conflict that drove the Taliban from power and lasted far longer than was expected.

“We put a CIA guy in first,” scant weeks after the towers in New York City fell, said Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, then a colonel with U.S. special operations forces, in charge of the military side of the operation.

U.S. Special Forces Green Berets, together with CIA officers, helped coordinate anti-Taliban forces on the ground with U.S. firepower from the air to topple the Taliban and close in on al-Qaeda.

Recent remarks from the White House suggest the CIA and special operations forces will be hunting al-Qaeda and working with local forces long after most U.S. troops have left.

When Afghan troops take the lead in 2014, “the U.S. remaining force will be basically an enduring presence force focused on counterterrorism,” said National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, in remarks in Washington in mid-September.

That will be augmented by teams that will continue to train Afghan forces, said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

The White House insists this does not mean abandoning the strategy of counterinsurgency, in which large numbers of troops are needed to keep the population safe. It simply means replacing the surge of 33,000 U.S. troops, as it withdraws over the next year, with newly trained Afghan ones, said senior White House Afghan war adviser Doug Lute.

It also means U.S. special operators and CIA officers will be there for the next turn in the campaign. That is the moment when Afghans will prove themselves able to withstand a promised Taliban resurgence or find themselves overwhelmed by Taliban fighters.

“We’re moving toward an increased special operations role,” together with U.S. intelligence, Mulholland said, “whether it’s counter terrorism-centric, or counterterrorism blended with counterinsurgency.”

As outgoing head of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Mulholland has been in charge of feeding a steady stream of troops to commanders in the field. He knows they need as many special operations troops as he can produce and send.

Those special operations forces under his command include U.S. Army Rangers, known for their raiding operations against militant targets, and U.S. Special Forces Green Berets, whose stock in trade is teaching local forces to fight a common enemy so the U.S. doesn’t have to.

A foundation for special-operations-style counterinsurgency is already underway — staffed primarily by the Green Berets — with the establishment of hundreds of sites in remote Afghan villages where the U.S. troops are paired with Afghan local tribesmen trained by the Americans, Mulholland said.

The program has been so successful in the eyes of NATO commanders that they have assigned other special operators such as Navy SEALs to the mission and even paired elite troops with conventional forces to stretch the numbers and cover more territory.

Senior U.S. officials have spoken of keeping a mix of 10,000 of both raiding and training special operations forces in Afghanistan, and drawing down to between 20,000 and 30,000 conventional forces to provide logistics and support. But at this point, the figures are as fuzzy as the future strategy.

Whatever happens with U.S. troops, intelligence officers know they will be a key component. A senior U.S. official tasked with mapping out their role envisioned a possible future in which Afghan forces are able to hold Kabul and other urban areas, but the Taliban comes back in remote valleys or even whole provinces.

In that event, the official said, CIA and special operations forces would continue to hunt al-Qaeda in Taliban areas that the Afghan forces can’t secure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss planning for sensitive operations.

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